1903 Spare Parts Container Drawings?

Hi all,

As you likely know, I buy and sell stuff. I've done pretty well this year but I'm looking to expand next year.

What I'd like to do is develop a line of reproduction products (clearly marked as such, of course).

The recent thread on the 1903 Spare Parts Container inspired me. I think that would be a fantastic item to create. I'm a draftsman by trade and have connections with various manufacturers through work that may be able to accomplish this.

From an old post a found a book on Google Books that has a mediocre drawing. It's missing a few dimensions I need and is quite blurry. In order to get quotes on having these made, I need to first create a good working drawing.

Could anyone direct me to a source of a better drawing?

Does anyone have an idea for another item I could recreate? I thought about stocks but that requires specialized equipment and that market is pretty well covered.

Thanks!

Could someone not provide the missing dimensions by measuring an original spare parts container?

If you don't have a drawing of an item but you do have access to the item to which you wish to have a drawing of, then the normal way is to measure the item, or a sample of the items if more than one is available, to provide the dimensions to produce a drawing.

I’m purchasing an original as well.

Unfourtunately I know a 100 year old wooden item is not always going to match the print that well.
Creating a print from a part is no issue for me. I’m just striving for accuracy.

Stocks are well covered, but the early high bump handguards for the 1903 and decent wooden grips for M1905 bayonet are something lacking from the reproduction market.

Those are both very good suggestions. Thank you!

I have the drawings and have made the tooling to make the 1903 spare parts containers. The big issue is the scrap rate of the containers. The striker hole is the most difficult. It is drilled at an angle and the original build utilized a single three step drill bit. To have the original drill bit made is outrageous as far as cost. So I did the setup and drilling of the striker hole in three steps. This is where the problem is. The walls of the container are thin and the torque of the drill bits crushes the walls if it is slightly off line when drilling. I would start off with about 75 walnut containers and after drilling and routing I would end up with about 23 to 29 containers. I am still looking into getting a bit made.